"The civilised world should applaud Israel's bombing of a Syrian terrorist training camp [on Sunday]. The raid followed a homicide strike on a Haifa restaurant that killed 19, including several children ... Israel is more than justified in attacking terrorist training bases wherever they are ...

"The mayhem in the Middle East is not the result of a cycle of violence. It is the result of unprovoked terrorist atrocities against the Jewish state followed by legitimate retribution. Israel has the right and duty to defend the safety of its people. This includes pursuing terrorists and their supporters, such as Syria. It isn't a new concept. But since 9/11, it has received a new name: the Bush doctrine."

David Twersky New York Sun, October 6

"The strike was more than simple retaliation at Islamic Jihad ... It was a signal to the Syrians and to the Palestinian terror chiefs that neither claims of sovereign immunity nor geographical distance will shelter them from Israel's reach ... The war to democratise Iraq and rid the world of Saddam Hussein's murderous and menacing regime is not over, and cannot be done until Syria and Iran face the American commitment and resolve equal to that shown by Israel in its limited strike."

Haaretz Editorial, Israel, October 5

"In spreading death and destruction among a peaceful Israeli population, the men of violence and their dispatchers have condemned their own Palestinian people to another round of mourning and suffering. The hundreds of Israeli victims of terror since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada three years ago have distanced the Palestinian people from their hope for freedom from the yoke of Israeli occupation. Every attack deepens the hatred, fear and suspicion felt by Israelis and drowns hopes for peace and support for compromise. Every attack undermines the world's support for the hardships of the Palestinian population."

Arab News Editorial, Saudi Arabia, October 6

"The Israelis have hit at Syria, fully aware that it could lead to war. Is that the real objective? We know [the Israeli prime minister] Ariel Sharon does not want peace with the Palestinians, that he wants rid of them. War would certainly provide him with the opportunity to terrorise them into flight. But so what if he has been shown in his true colours? We have long known that he is a warmonger. What matters is that, at a stroke, the whole region has been put in immense and immediate danger. Mr Sharon is on the rampage; he must be reined in - fast."

Al-Riyad Editorial, Saudi Arabia, October 6

"This attack has taken place with American agreement. Both Mr Sharon and President George Bush are facing a crisis on domestic and international levels; therefore, justifying a strike against Syria confirms that the leaders of both countries need a new enemy in the Arab region so that they can say countries in the region are terrorists or harbour terrorism ... It seems unlikely that peace according to the Bush-Sharon view will be achieved, because their ideas are borrowed from Hitler and Mussolini, who believed they were saving humanity from injustice." · Via BBC Monitoring

Daily Star Editorial, Lebanon, October 6

"Saturday's suicide bombing in Haifa was carried out by a 29-year-old woman, a lawyer whose brother was killed by the Israeli military in June. Air strikes in Syria will not stop others from following in her footsteps, only expand the circle of people with a reason to so do and reinforce their motivation ... Washington must at last be made to recognise that the damage wrought by Israeli bellicosity goes far beyond Jenin and Ain al-Saheb: it also extends to Haifa. That message is more important than anything Mr Sharon has to say, but it will not be heard unless and until the Syrians end their slumber and reach out to the west."

Daily Telegraph Editorial, October 6

"Syria has a long history of complicity with terrorism ... The Sharon government is, therefore, perfectly justified in striking a neighbour that sponsors groups wishing to drive the Israelis into the sea ... Israel and its closest ally, the US, should now put a concerted squeeze on Syrian meddling, both to the east in Iraq and to the west in Israel and the occupied territories ...

"It was a grave tactical error, suggesting a lack of coherent strategy, for Israel to announce its [expulsion] designs on [the Palestinian president] Yasser Arafat in advance. In reacting to the latest suicide bombing, it has wisely refrained from carrying out what it had threatened. Ostracism, not the reinforcing of martyr status, is what Mr Arafat deserves."

Independent Editorial, October 6

"The Israeli air force strike on an alleged terrorist training base near Damascus is not quite a moral non sequitur, but the connection with Saturday's suicide attack is tenuous ... The Israelis must understand that suicide terrorism can never be prevented by military force. It can only be eliminated by a political settlement, however distant that may seem. For that reason, a gesture that may make Israelis feel safer in the short term only makes their long-term security all the more difficult to defend."